When Colleen Holland reported to work at the Best Western motel in Tully last week, there was a note saying the motel had been sold, and the new owners would take over later that day.

The note directed employees to report to their scheduled shifts, but Holland noticed a stack of applications next to the letter. When she asked another worker, she learned the new owners were requiring existing employees to re-apply for their jobs.

Holland said the new owner, Chet Patel, was never introduced to workers and there was no staff meeting to discuss the transition. She and several other employees were so upset at the way the ownership transfer was handled that they resigned.

Ray Patel, the new manager, said asking workers to fill out applications for their jobs is just a procedural step. He said the new owners have hired seven to eight of the employees who already worked there, but said some people just left.

Patel said the new owners weren’t introduced because management was so busy with the takeover and filling positions of those who resigned.

Bruce Graham, whose family has owned the motel for about 12 years, said he encouraged the new owners to hire the employees. “It’s unfortunate what’s happened,” he said. He declined to say why he decided to sell the motel.

Holland, who is enrolled in the hospitality program at Syracuse University and worked as a desk clerk as required experience, said she learned in her hospitality class that “you need to make sure your employees are taken care of properly so your guests can be taken care of properly.”

Mayor Beth Greenwood said she heard people talking about the turnover, but didn’t know anything about it.